Overview
- Manufacturers, dealers and collectors organized in the VdS are pursuing UNESCO recognition of cuckoo-clock making as intangible cultural heritage.
- The VdS estimates about 150,000 mechanical cuckoo clocks sell annually, fewer than in earlier years as the key U.S. market weakens and tourist spending softens.
- VdS chair and factory head Jürgen Clute says the niche needs safeguarding after several firms closed in recent years and the pandemic dented demand.
- The sector has introduced a VdS seal to certify Black Forest origin and reinforce a Made in Germany guarantee.
- The 175-year milestone traces back to an 1850 design competition that yielded Friedrich Eisenlohr’s railway gatekeeper–house motif that shaped the classic form.